I SHUT THE DOOR AND paced back and forth across my tiny living area. A whirlpool of emotions spun in dizzying circles inside me. Anger. Guilt. Annoyance. Frustration. Helplessness.
Bishop finally came upstairs and let himself inside. I stared at him for long moments while neither of us spoke. Whatever he was feeling was bubbling close to the surface.
“What the fuck did you think you were doing?” Apparently he hadn’t cooled down.
“What the hell were you doing?” I shot back. “You were the one who didn’t want to step foot inside a casino and then bam, there you are. I was fine. You didn’t need to come to my rescue again.”
His green gaze seemed to shoot fire as it locked onto mine, and everything but the rise and fall of his chest stilled. “You think you were fine? They thought you were a fucking card counter, Eden, working with a partner. Do you know what casinos do with card counters? Do you think they really just wanted to take you into some little back office to chat? They could’ve killed you.”
“This isn’t a freaking movie. No one was going to do anything to me.” To myself, I added, especially once I dropped my father’s name. Only someone with a death wish would dare touch me.
“Yeah, you’re right. No one was going to do a goddamned thing to you because I wouldn’t let them.”
Frustration overwhelmed the other emotions fighting for precedence. “I don’t need you to save me every time, Bishop! How the hell am I ever supposed to learn to stand on my own two feet and save myself if you’re always going to rush to the rescue? I don’t need a babysitter. I need to learn to be self-sufficient, and if no one in my entire freaking life will give me the chance, then how am I ever going to get there?”
Bishop jerked back like I’d slapped him. “What the hell kind of man would I be if I didn’t step in when shit goes sideways? You want me to back away and let you put yourself at risk? No fucking way. I can’t do that. I won’t do that.”
“Then you’re going to suffocate me.” My words fell like heavy boulders between us.
“Is that what you think I’m doing? Trying to suffocate you? Fuck, Eden. All I want is to keep you safe so I don’t lose you like I’ve lost damn near every other person in my life who fucking mattered!”
He stalked closer to me, and I backed away instinctively until my butt pressed against the cabinets in the tiny kitchen.
“I get that you need to prove that you can handle yourself. I get it. I really fucking do. But tonight was not the night to try. Those people aren’t a joke. They don’t believe in a slap on the wrist. They break fingers. Hands. Arms. Kneecaps. Legs. They fucking kill people who try to steal from them.”
Intellectually, I knew that he was right. But what he didn’t understand was that in that world, I was untouchable. I wanted to explain. I wanted to tell him exactly why he didn’t need to worry about me tonight. The words were there on my tongue, but I couldn’t get them out because he kept going.
His palms pressed down on either side of the countertop and he leaned over me. “I would die before I’d let them hurt you. Don’t take that away from me, Eden. Don’t tell me I can’t protect you.”
The anger and frustration that had been roiling within me drained away. How could I possibly stay mad at the man when he wasn’t trying to cage me?
“You have to know that sometimes I can handle myself, even if you don’t believe me. I promise I’m not a fragile little princess. I’m not going to break.”
The intensity burning in his eyes turned molten. “I know you’re not a fragile little princess. You’re fucking resilient. I see it every time I look at you. If I thought you were going to break, I wouldn’t do this.”
His hand came off the counter and buried in my hair, tugging my head back before his lips crashed down onto mine. Every bit of emotion that had been flying between us burst into heat. I grabbed his shoulders, giving back as good as I got. I wanted his kiss, wanted him to take me right here, against my counter.
Bishop must have read my mind, because he dropped his hand from my hair and reached for my thigh, lifting it and wrapping it around his waist before shoving my dress up.
“You want me to prove that I don’t think I’ll break you? I’ll take what I want and make you scream for me.”
“Yes, yes.” I moaned against his lips, tugging his shirt away from his shoulders, and his hand slid between my legs. He tugged my panties aside.
“Fuck, cupcake. You’re so goddamned wet. Fighting with me makes you want to fuck, doesn’t it?”
The heat of a blush burned over my cheeks, but I wasn’t about to deny it. “Everything about you makes me want to fuck.”
The words felt foreign coming out of my mouth, even though they were the absolute truth.
“Naughty little girl. You fucking love when I tell you what I’m going to do to you, don’t you?”
I moaned a response and it spurred him on.
“Shouldn’t have worn panties tonight. I’m gonna rip them off and turn you around and bend you over the counter. You’re not going to move your hands while I drop to my knees and eat this sweet pussy until you scream. I’m not going to fuck you until you’re begging for my cock with every breath. When I take you, I’m not holding back. You’re going to feel me tomorrow with every step. If you’re a really fucking good girl, I’m going to play with that virgin asshole so you’re one step closer to taking my cock there. Because you’re mine, Eden. I’m going to own every fucking inch of you.”
My entire body went up in flames, and he did exactly what he promised.
The elastic of my panties snapped, and Bishop pulled my leg from his hip and spun me around.
I grasped for any kind of purchase, but my palms found nothing on the countertop to anchor me against the waves of anticipation rolling through me. My skirt was flipped up over my ass, and the cooler air of the room provided a counterpoint to the heat of my body. Bishop’s big hands covered my ass as he lowered himself to his knees.
I only had a fraction of a moment to feel a shred of embarrassment that he must have been staring right at my ass as he spread my legs, but given his promises about what he’d do if I were a really fucking good girl, I couldn’t help but shiver.
His mouth covered me from behind as he pressed his face between my legs, his tongue thrusting into me. My clit throbbed and ached for more until he slipped a hand around to circle it and tease me.
Moans slipped from my mouth, and Bishop growled his approval between my legs in a way that I felt all the way to the pleasure centers in my brain. They were blaring with color, and I swear whatever he did next had black spots invading my vision.
“Bishop!”
His name was ripped from my throat on a hoarse cry, but he didn’t slow. He pushed harder, finally making contact with my clit as an orgasm barreled down on me and shoved me toward the edge.
“Please, please.” I didn’t care that I was begging, and when the orgasm hit, I dropped my forehead to the counter and screamed.
Still, he didn’t slow. His movements sped up, and Bishop dragged another orgasm from my body until I was shaking and doubted the ability of my legs to hold me up.
“You ready to beg for my cock, cupcake? You want me to give you more?”
I nodded.
“I need the words, Eden. I want to hear it. I want you to tell me just how fucking bad you need it.”
“Please, I need it. I want it.”
“Not good enough, baby.”
Desperation rode me and I would have said anything, but words eluded me. “Please, I want you.”
“What do you want?”
“Your cock,” I said on a moan.
He pressed two thick fingers into me, and my body wept with the temporary relief.
“Yes!”
“In this tight little cunt?”
“Yes!”
“You gonna let me have it any way I want it?”
It seemed my vocabulary had diminished to only one word. The only one that mattered.
“Yes!”
“You gonna let me protect it and keep it safe so I can make you scream like this every night?”
Again, only one answer would work. “Yes.”
“Good, because you don’t have a fucking choice anymore, Eden. You’re mine. I don’t have much, but what’s mine I keep. I protect. I don’t ever let it go.”
“Please.”
“You on the pill? I want you bare. Nothing between us anymore.”
“IUD. I’m covered. Hurry.”
My words were pleas, but I knew I wouldn’t have to wait much longer because Bishop stood behind me and the hiss of his zipper was the best sound I’d ever heard.
“I’ve never fucked anyone without protection. I’ve never wanted to. But you crashed into my life and changed every goddamned thing.”
Bishop notched the thick head of his cock against my opening and then leaned over me, covering my hands and interlocking our fingers.
He pushed inside with one solid stroke. I expected him to pull out and slide in again and again, but he stilled. “I’ve been waiting for you my whole fucking life, and I didn’t have a clue.”
“I know. I know.”
“I don’t want to let you go, but I know you want my fingers on the hungry clit of yours, don’t you?”
I nodded. “I just want you.”
“And I want you to scream and squeeze the fuck out of my cock when you come.”
He released one hand and swept my hair over my shoulder and pressed his lips to the curve of my neck before trading it for his teeth. His fingers found my clit as the sharp sensation registered in my brain, and he began to move.
Decadent pain and overwhelming pleasure warred within me as he thrust and retreated, slamming against my G-spot. I screamed his name as my inner muscles spasmed.
Over and over, he fucked into me, delivering more pleasure than I thought possible.
“Fucking perfect,” Bishop growled into my ear, finally slowing. “So fucking perfect.”
He readjusted his grip, one hand coming around my hip to glide his fingers over my clit as the other thumb slid between my legs, gathering up my slickness. My overwhelmed brain tried to keep up with his movements, but didn’t compute.
Not until I felt that same thumb reposition itself right over my ass. All the nerve endings blared to life, and if it was even possible at this point, my pussy got wetter.
“Fuck, baby. You like that. My sweet naughty little cupcake wants my finger in her ass.”
He pressed against me, and another orgasm burst just before Bishop’s roar filled the kitchen.
He continued to thrust, to press, to devastate, for a few more moments before he collapsed over my back, his arm holding us both up.
For long minutes, neither of us moved.
Before he pulled out of me, Bishop growled one more word into my ear. “Mine.”